Stock loans on roll amid market rebound

Seoul, Aug. 16 (Yonhap) -- Korean investors are borrowing substantial sums of money to purchase local stocks once more, as the nation's stock market rebounds from its lowest point, according to market data published on Sunday. The amount of borrowed funds, known as margin debt, surged to 30.93 trillion won (US$21.8 billion) by Thursday, up from 27.44 trillion won on August 3, data from the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA) revealed.

This increase occurred as major market players like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix experienced significant recoveries following turbulence caused by profitability concerns related to artificial intelligence (AI) investments. Experts predict that the trend may persist for some time, potentially reaching a new peak, as the local stock market shows no immediate signs of cooling off due to eased worries over AI-related investments.

Analyst Kim Dong-won of KB Securities noted that investors are now cautiously anticipating that chipmakers will start to be re-rated from the third quarter of the year as concerns diminish to some extent.